RYAN CHASING ANOTHER PROVINCIAL-MIDWAY CHAMPIONSHIPS WITH WIZARDS

LAST year’s Provincial-Midway Championships Final winning trainer Sara Ryan is hoping some “wizardry” can result in another success in this year’s series.

Ryan, a winner at her home track today with former Victorian Master Zous, launches her 2026 PMC campaign with lightly-raced Wizards (Reece Jones) in Saturday’s second Qualifier (1400m) at Newcastle.

The Wyong trainer purchased the now five-year-old Fastnet Rock gelding online for $22,500 last May after he had been off the scene since winning a Hawkesbury Super Maiden (1500m) in March the previous year for then co-trainers Ciaron Maher and David Eustace (the latter is now based in Hong Kong).

“I bought him off Ciaron because he had done a tendon,” Ryan explained this evening.

“He had a good opinion of the horse, I had the time to look after him and thought he was worth the gamble.”

Wizards, who will race in a tongue tie on Saturday, has run well at all four starts for his new trainer, being placed twice and finishing fourth on the two other occasions.

He carried 60kg when fourth to Piperita at his home track in a Midway Benchmark 64 Handicap (1350m) on February 10, and drops 4kg in Saturday’s Qualifier.

Ryan of course is no stranger to looking after horses with tendon problems, with last year’s PMC Final winner Matcha Latte being the finest example.

And it was at Newcastle where she qualified Matcha Latte by defeating Art Volant and Kind Words in a 1400m heat last March en route to beating Lord Of Biscay in the $1m Final at Royal Randwick the following month.

Ryan, who was Domeland’s private trainer at the time, branched out on her own at the start of the season and has steadily built up her numbers.

“It doesn’t happen overnight, but we started from zero and now have a full barn,” she said.

Ryan was understandably pleased to get a breakthrough with Blueblood Thoroughbreds’ three-year-old Master Zous ($4.20) in the Provincial 2 & 3YO Maiden Handicap (1200m) today.

Given a great ride by Alysha Collett, Master Zous gamely staved off a determined challenge from Hawkesbury trainer Jason Attard’s well supported Dwight ($5.50) to score narrowly at his fourth start for his new stable.

“Master Zous has been a real work in progress; he just wouldn’t settle,” Ryan said.

‘I took a cross over nose band off him and substituted a Norton bit, and it seemed to work well.”

Ryan will trial a number of horses at Gosford tomorrow morning, including dual Group 3 winner Phearson, a newcomer to her team.

“We’ve just got to get him to jump from the barrier on level terms,” she said.

“But I’m very grateful to the owners for giving me the opportunity to have a go with him.”

Phearson incurred a stewards’ ban at his latest appearance when he stood flatfooted at the start of the Group 3 Festival Stakes (1500m) at Rosehill Gardens on November 29.

. Newcastle’s Paul Perry and Gosford’s Kylie Gavenlock joined Ryan in the winners’ list at Wyong today.

Perry took the Benchmark 64 Handicap (1200m) with Harlex (Lee Magorrian) at $8.50, and rather ironically had to play “second fiddle” with The Warrior ($15) to Gavenlock’s $12 chance Alfred (Anna Roper) in the Class 1 Handicap (1350m).

STORY JOHN CURTIS, FEBRUARY 26, 2026